Texas Football: How Isaiah Neyor could be utilized outside of boundary WR

The biggest new addition to the wide receiver room for Texas football last offseason was the former Wyoming Cowboys standout boundary receiver Isaiah Neyor. Unfortunately, Neyor couldn’t take a single snap in live-game action for Texas and head coach Steve Sarkisian last season due to a season-ending knee injury he suffered in the first scrimmage of fall camp.

Heading into the 2023 season, though, it looks like Neyor is healthy and ready to take his first snaps wearing the Burnt Orange in a regular season game. Neyor is a full participant in the first two weeks of fall camp for the Longhorns, granted he is still wearing a big brace on that right knee that he suffered the ACL tear on last fall.

If a recent fall camp press conference from redshirt sophomore quarterback Quinn Ewers is telling of Neyor’s status early in fall camp, it sounds like he’s ready to contribute at a high level to the offense heading into the season.

"“Neyor is back, it’s good to have him being able to go up and grab the ball whenever.”"

Texas football can utilize WR Isaiah Neyor away from the boundary to threaten opposing defenses in 2023

The most notable difference for Neyor between fall camp this year and his first couple of weeks of fall practice last year is the spot he’s working in the receiving corps. Last fall, Neyor took the first-team reps at boundary receiver in practice.

This fall, Neyor has taken most of his practice and scrimmage reps at field receiver since the former Georgia Bulldogs junior transfer wideout AD Mitchell is working with the first team on the boundary. Neyor taking reps at field receiver is a way for Sark to keep him involved in the offense as one of the top four or five wideouts he gets in live-game situations this season.

As a quick note, Neyor took the first-team reps at field receiver through the majority of the first fall scrimmage this weekend. He took the first-team reps at field receiver since junior standout wide receiver Xavier Worthy was held out of the scrimmage due to a lingering injury issue.

But assuming that all projecting starting receivers (Mitchell on the boundary, redshirt senior Jordan Whittington in the slot, and Worthy at field) are healthy heading into the season, Sark will need to get a bit more creative to find ways to get Neyor involved in the passing game.

Neyor is more versatile than many give him credit for

In my mind, Neyor getting reps at field receiver in fall camp screams that Sark is conjuring up many different ways to move him around and get him involved in the passing game, potentially with some unorthodox schemes by the Texas head coach’s traditional standard.

So, where could Sark put Neyor to let him thrive away from the boundary this fall?

My first thought is that Sark could use Neyor as part of a four-wide receiver and one running back set to spread out opposing defenses. This would likely involve either utilizing redshirt senior Keilan Robinson as a motion-man out of the backfield or Whittington as a de-facto running back.

A package like this would resemble what Ian Boyd broke down in the video linked below during the spring game. Whittington is lined up adjacent to the right tackle in the right slot. Texas also utilizes two hybrid-boundary receivers on each side in the outside slot. And then, the two outside receivers run shorter routes to occupy the outside corners to let the more dangerous outside slot receivers get into space further downfield.

This play sees Whittington get some space between the numbers out of the slot since the slot defenders and linebackers are drawn away by the outside slot receivers running downfield.

In this play, Neyor and Mitchell would hypothetically be the two outside slot receivers that could present matchup issues running deep routes that coast to the boundary or up the seams. There are many other routes that Neyor and Mitchell could run to free up space for other wideouts or to get in space themselves for big plays in the passing game.

Neyor, in particular, presents a serious threat down the seams. He is also a precise enough route runner between the numbers to get open and give Ewers a large catch radius to target between the numbers.

Sark could get Neyor open down the seam or have him run an intermediate route to take advantage of the space created by the opposite boundary receiver going deep.

Neyor gives Texas yet another vertical threat that can take the top off opposing defenses hypothetically working at field or out of the slot.

Just look at the first route Neyor runs down the seams on the play in the video below from the 2021 campaign at Wyoming. Neyor lines up near the hash on the field side and burns his DB in pass coverage with a quick move to the outside and then back in to get separation down the seam for his quarterback to easily find him in the end zone for an explosive touchdown.

And this wasn’t the only DB Neyor burned working between the numbers and out of the slot during his last full season at Wyoming in 2021. He took over 142 offensive snaps out of the slot during the 2021 season at Wyoming. Neyor hauled in 14 catches for nearly 300 receiving yards and four touchdown catches between the numbers in 2021.

Imagine what Neyor could do against most of the slot defenders and safeties he’d face one-on-one in the Big 12 this fall working out of the slot and down the seam? He’s too fast and lengthy for most of them to handle in one-on-one coverage.

Neyor can be motioned to confuse opposing defenses

I mentioned earlier in the article how Neyor’s versatility is often undervalued. While most view Neyor as your prototypical taller boundary receiver that can stretch opposing defenses and bring down those tough contested 50/50 balls, he can be motioned to threaten secondaries in other ways.

But Wyoming used Neyor in plenty of motion plays in the passing game to find additional ways to get him free downfield. Neyor led all FBS receivers in yards per catch as the motion target during the 2021 season.

He was targeted a double-digit number of times at Wyoming in 2021 as the motioned receiver, showing that he got plenty of experience being moved around pre-snap a couple of seasons ago.

Neyor can still be a downfield threat as a field receiver this fall

Again, the assumption for Sark to utilize Neyor in other ways this fall is that he will start being lined up at field receiver.

One of Sark’s base plays, deep crossers, can be altered a bit with some motion to get Neyor open downfield from the field receiver spot. Look at the second play from former Buffalo Bills wide receiver and speedster John Brown in the video below.

Brown is lined up as the field receiver a few yards to the right of the Bills’ slot wideout. This play sees the slot receiver carry the attention of the zone safety around 10 or 12 yards downfield while moving the coverage DB to the boundary with a cut outside before running back in on an intermediate crosser.

This lets Brown, the field receiver, get free on a deep hi cross route for a long touchdown catch. Brown found the slip in the secondary and utilized his speed to get separation deep to make for an easy throw from quarterback Josh Allen.

The deep crosser Brown runs for the score on this play is similar to something Sark can run to get Neyor free downfield. Neyor could start as the field receiver pre-snap in Sark’s deep crossers play. Sark can motion Neyor inside to play a few yards off the slot receiver so that the pre-snap look is similar to the alignment of the Bills’ field (Brown) and slot receiver in the touchdown play.

The reason for motioning Neyor inside to get closer to the slot receiver is to shorten the width of the field to let him get downfield in his route faster. Texas’ slot receiver can run an inside crosser to draw the safety’s attention and let Neyor get over the top on a deep hi crossing route for a big play.

Neyor could be weaponized similarly, being motioned inside to run a pressure-go route against one-on-one coverage. In this scenario, Neyor can utilize his larger frame and contested catch ability to bring down the ball on a 15+ yard passing play.

As long as you can get Neyor open downfield in one-on-one coverage, he will be a viable threat and an easy target for Ewers to find in the passing game. He can also be utilized in the intermediate part of the field (10-19 yards downfield) to take advantage of his speed running routes and large catch radius.

During the 2021 season, Wyoming proved that Neyor’s speed and ability to make things happen in space makes him a threat in many different motion packages and routes to different parts of the field. Wyoming even motioned him around to get the ball in his hands on jet sweeps in 2021.

Neyor will be utilized in four wideout spread packages and as a pure field WR

Most often, Neyor will see the field this season in spread packages with four receivers and at field WR when Worthy needs a break. There are obviously other ways that Texas can utilize him, including on the boundary when Mitchell needs a break.

But the most natural ways for Sark to weaponize Neyor will be away from the boundary to best take advantage of the dangerous skill sets that he, Mitchell, Neyor, and Whittington bring to the table.